Category Archives: Conservation

‘Nature thrives when given a chance’: restored Cheshire wetland now a haven for rare grebe

Posted on by

Woolston Eyes in Warrington, a dumping ground for canal dredgings, has become best place in UK for black-necked grebe

A dumping ground for dredgings from the Manchester Ship Canal has become the best place in Britain for the rare and beautiful black-necked grebe, hosting 64% of Britain’s breeding population.

Since 2021, Woolston Eyes in Cheshire has been restored, extended and turned into a mosaic of freshwater pools, reedbeds, willow scrub and rough grassland, managed by the RSPB and Woolston Eyes Conservation Group.

Continue reading...

South African police arrest two Thai men for allegedly smuggling parrot eggs

Posted on by

Bird eggs intercepted in homemade incubators at Johannesburg airport as officials try to halt wildlife trafficking

South African police have arrested two Thai nationals in separate incidents for allegedly attempting to smuggle endangered parrot eggs out of the country as authorities try to stem the tide of wildlife trafficking.

A 50-year-old Thai national was arrested at OR Tambo international airport in Johannesburg on 20 August, carrying 50 bird eggs in a homemade incubator in a hand-luggage bag, South Africa’s environment ministry said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Call to ban marmot hunting in France as campaigners say they are ‘killed for fun’

Posted on by

Protests and petitions planned amid growing concerns over impact of climate crisis on numbers of Alpine rodent

Animal rights campaigners are gearing up for protests and petitions aimed at persuading the French government to ban the hunting of Alpine marmots.

Open season on the rodents, members of the squirrel and groundhog family, begins in September, a few weeks before they go into a long winter hibernation.

Continue reading...

First Australian death of little penguin with H5 bird flu confirmed on Phillip Island

Posted on by

Authorities confirm first Australian death of species found with virus near where it attracts crowds to a ‘penguin parade’

Australia’s first case of the deadly H5 bird flu in a little penguin has been confirmed on Victoria’s Phillip Island, only days after the state government announced it would begin vaccinating the species.

Confirmation of the virus in the little penguin will spark a race to vaccinate thousands of birds, with the government announcing on Saturday it would begin the rollout on Monday.

Continue reading...

Indonesia wildfires threaten orangutans rescued from animal traffickers

Posted on by

Blaze fuelled by hot, dry and windy conditions comes within metres of West Kalimantan rehabilitation centre

Orangutans rescued from wildlife traffickers face a new threat from the record number of fires that have broken out in Indonesia in recent weeks.

Flames have come within metres of an animal rehabilitation centre in West Kalimantan as hot, dry and windy conditions have been amplified by a powerful El Niño and the human-driven climate crisis.

Continue reading...

Winner of Florida python hunting contest nabs 96 snakes: ‘I was on a mission’

Posted on by

Burmese pythons are an invasive species in the Everglades, and the challenge is part of initiative to remove them

The winner of this year’s annual Florida Python Challenge hunted down and eliminated 96 invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades national park, as part of an initiative to remove hundreds of the snakes from the area every year.

The challenge invites hunters to participate in 10 days of capturing and humanely euthanizing as many of the invasive snakes as possible across eight designated hunting locations, with the winner taking home a cash prize of $10,000. The event is hosted by Florida fish, wildlife and conservation (FWC), the south Florida water management district, the National Park Service and others.

Continue reading...

Winner of Florida python hunting contest nabs 96 snakes: ‘I was on a mission’

Posted on by

Burmese pythons are an invasive species in the Everglades, and the challenge is part of initiative to remove them

The winner of this year’s annual Florida Python Challenge hunted down and eliminated 96 invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades national park, as part of an initiative to remove hundreds of the snakes from the area every year.

The challenge invites hunters to participate in 10 days of capturing and humanely euthanizing as many of the invasive snakes as possible across eight designated hunting locations, with the winner taking home a cash prize of $10,000. The event is hosted by Florida fish, wildlife and conservation (FWC), the south Florida water management district, the National Park Service and others.

Continue reading...

Kenya investigating unexpected deaths of 15 elephants in national park

Posted on by

Potential toxic substance detected in several of 15 elephants found dead in Kenya’s Amboseli national park

Officials are investigating the deaths of 15 elephants over the past month in Kenya’s Amboseli national park.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said 10 of the elephants showed signs of partial paralysis before dying within two days.

Continue reading...

Adelaide airport pulls ads from conservation groups but keeps gas and mining ads during ALP conference

Posted on by

Digital billboards from environmental groups, targeting Labor MPs attending national conference, cancelled with airport stating they are ‘too political’

Conservation groups have questioned why their advertisements targeting Labor politicians were pulled by Adelaide airport for breaking rules on political advertising while others promoting gas and mining kept running.

Labor politicians including the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, have been arriving through the airport for this week’s ALP national conference from Thursday to Saturday.

Continue reading...

‘A great thrill’: baby puffin is first one seen on Dorset coast in three decades

Posted on by

Puffling excites volunteers trying to save the last known regular nesting site on mainland of southern England

For years, volunteers have craned their necks and tested their patience to peer into the crevices of the cliffs hoping for a glimpse of fluffy joy.

Finally it all paid off as a puffling – baby puffin – poked its way into the sunshine, becoming the first to be spotted on the coast of Dorset in southern England for three decades.

Continue reading...

Species’ ingenious survival strategies no match for human destruction, red list reveals

Posted on by

Newly endangered animals include desert frogs and snails in extreme ocean depths, both threatened by mining

Life has colonised every corner of the planet by evolving ingenious survival strategies but these are increasingly being overwhelmed by destructive human activities, this year’s red list of endangered species has revealed.

Many snails, limpets and clams have adapted to life at crushing depths in the oceans on hydrothermal vents where water temperatures can reach 450C (842F). But an assessment for the red list found that two-thirds of the hundreds of mollusc species found only on deep sea vents were at risk of extinction because of deep-sea mining.

Continue reading...

Cuban zoo celebrates birth of Bengal tigers amid energy crisis

Posted on by

Arrival of endangered cats, including rare white cub, revitalises team straining under fuel and medicine shortages

For the Cuban zookeeper Ángel Cordero, the sight of four Bengal ⁠tiger cubs playing in a cage at the Cuban national zoo is a small miracle on an island stifled by shortages ⁠of fuel, medicine and ⁠days-long power outages.

The ​birth of these endangered big cats – including an exceedingly rare white tiger – has revitalised a team of zoo workers, he said.

Continue reading...

New pipeline in Canada to proceed after C$150bn pledged to ease BC and First Nations concerns

Posted on by

Port expansion and protections for whales part of BC and Alberta plan to expand country’s presence overseas

The governments of Canada and the province of Alberta will move forward on a major new oil pipeline after the pair announced a plan to ease concerns of British Columbia and First Nations on the Pacific coast.

Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, shuttled between British Columbia and Alberta on Thursday to announce more than C$150bn in new investments in both provinces, part of a broader project of reducing trade with the United States and expanding his country’s presence in overseas markets.

Continue reading...

Trump to attend opening of Roosevelt library amid overturning conservation efforts

Posted on by

Theodore Roosevelt protected swathes of land, while Trump has lifted them from more than 86m acres

Donald Trump will attend a ribbon cutting for the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library on Wednesday, touting the legacy of a president his own administration is attempting to destroy, critics say.

While in office from 1901 to 1909, Roosevelt established five new national parks, protected swaths of land and passed legislation enabling himself and future presidents to proclaim historic landmarks and other objects of historic or scientific interest in federal ownership as national monuments.

Continue reading...

‘Chock full of incredible animals’: marine expedition uncovers 31 new species in two weeks

Posted on by

Experts worked in ocean midwater off Brazil at near-record speeds thanks to cutting-edge tech

A marine biology expedition in international waters off the coast of Brazil has discovered 31 new species in just two weeks.

The researchers believe the speed at which the species were found and identified may be a record, in part because of the cutting-edge technology designed and built by the science and engineering team. For the first time on board a ship, the researchers were able to observe the living 3D cellular structure of microbial life thanks to a technological breakthrough nicknamed the Squid.

Continue reading...

Israeli attack kills famed turtle sanctuary ecologist in Lebanon

Posted on by

Mona Khalil led decades-long effort to protect nesting site for turtles near her home in south of the country

The Lebanese marine activist Mona Khalil, who became a beloved figure in the country for a decades-long effort to protect a nesting site for turtles near her home, has died from injuries sustained in an Israeli strike.

Khalil, 76, ran a sanctuary called the Orange House Project near the Mediterranean city of Tyre. She hosted volunteers in her house to clean and monitor a mile-long beach and welcomed tourists to stay and learn about conservation.

Continue reading...

AI could help win ‘race against extinction’ of vital plants, say botanists

Posted on by

Tech is helping to identify and save new specimens and could open ‘genomic goldmine’ of fungi data

The rise of AI and digitisation could be a turning point in the “race against extinction” faced by botanists trying to identify and save vital plants before they vanish, according to a major report from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

New technology is enabling scientists to track how flowering times have shifted by weeks around the world, rapidly identify new specimens and even get crucial genetic data from 180-year-old fungus specimens, potentially opening a “genomic goldmine”. Digitisation and online access to millions of specimens that were until now only accessible in archives is also producing new insights, especially in the global south.

Continue reading...

Tropical heron spotted in UK for first time as more exotic birds arrive to thrill birdwatchers

Posted on by

Appearance of a western reef heron in north Wales is unlikely to be the last, as heating temperatures mean species can survive Britain’s winter, say experts

It is a tropical bird typically encountered between west Africa and India, but last week a western reef heron arrived in north Wales in what is believed to be the first ever sighting in the UK.

The heron was first spotted in Foryd Bay at the weekend before flying to nearby Caernarfon harbour where it fed among the boats.

Continue reading...

Arizona lake closes indefinitely to visitors after all of its fish die

Posted on by

Wildlife department says drought conditions and water released from dam led to ‘major fish kill’ at San Carlos Lake

Arizona officials have indefinitely closed a popular lake to visitors after its entire population of fish died recently.

The recreation and wildlife department that maintains San Carlos Lake said in a Facebook statement on Friday that drought conditions as well as water released from a dam there “resulted in a major fish kill affecting approximately 100% of the fish population”.

Continue reading...

Fisher with a mission: first woman to chair Grayling Society wants to protect ‘lady of the stream’

Posted on by

Marnie Lovejoy hopes to inspire other women to fish, protect England’s rivers and lift up the ‘beautiful’ grayling

With its iridescent pink scales and elegant dorsal fin, the grayling is known to anglers as the “lady of the stream”, yet the society fighting for its protection has never been led by a woman, until now.

Angling, and fly-fishing in particular, has always been a very male-dominated sport. The fly-fisher’s club in Mayfair, London, where anglers meet to lunch on dover sole and drink fine wine, did not allow women to cross the threshold even as guests until 2024.

Continue reading...